


At The End Of The Day

by SupremeTrashOverlord



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: But still probably some angst eventually, Eventual relationship, Fantasy, M/M, Magic AU, Probably fluffy too, idk yet, minimal angst, possibly smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-09-01 00:19:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8599615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SupremeTrashOverlord/pseuds/SupremeTrashOverlord
Summary: In a land where myth and legend walked amongst the common people as if it were the most natural thing in the world, it was fairly easy for people to say that there were two groups whom existed; the ordinary and the extraordinary. Katsuki Yuuri had always counted himself among the ordinary.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first work I've decided to post in years. With school and extra curriculars, my creative writing took a back seat. I can't promise consistent updates, but I will try to keep this story ongoing. Seeing as it's been a while since I've written anything, any constructive comments or criticisms, or even ideas are welcome.

In a land where myth and legend walked amongst the common people as if it were the most natural thing in the world, it was fairly easy for people to say that there were two groups whom existed; the ordinary and the extraordinary. Katsuki Yuuri had always counted himself among the ordinary. Not that he was, but any of his close friends and family could tell you that he was the type of person who did not see himself very clearly. 

 

We set our tale in a land of fantasy and magic, wherein existed beings capable of amazing feats. Everyone around Yuuri from a young age had always insisted that he himself was one of these people, yet the more they insisted, the more he denied, claiming that his skill level was far below what any sensible person could label as astounding. For you see, Yuuri was a mage; albeit a self - taught knowledge deprived one, but a mage nonetheless. 

 

While not entirely uncommon, the people of the small village from which he hailed all adamantly claimed his abilities to be of a much rarer caliber than what most people were capable of achieving.

 

It was true that he had skill. Yuuri was a natural born user of light magic, and had taught himself from a young age how to heal and rejuvenate living organisms, as well as to be able to entirely restore anything broken back to its original form.  

 

Healing magic was rare, and a healing magic to this degree was practically unheard of. At least, that’s what everyone told him. Yuuri himself was not so sure. He had lived his whole life within the small mountain village, and while the people there were good and kind, he often felt they only told him these things to make him feel better about his abilities. 

 

Because really, how could they possibly know about how strong the magic was in the cities outside the village? No one ever left, and the only news of the outside ever came from the odd drunken traveler here and there. 

 

So really, he was quite sure that his skill wasn’t so special, or even that rare for that matter. In fact, since the village was peaceful and accidents were few and far in between, he was actually quite positive that his magic was a bit useless. 

  
That is, until that fateful day when he met him.


	2. A Trip Into The Forest Of Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If anyone were to ask him later on, Yuuri would insist that there were absolutely no warning signs to elude to the fantastical series of events that were about to take place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seeing the positive feedback, I've decided to continue with this story and its concept, so here you have the first chapter! I recognize that it starts a bit slow, but if I continue to write this story I predict that it will start picking up in the next chapter or so.

That day had dawned beautiful and light, and if anyone were to ask him later on, Yuuri would insist that there was absolutely no warning signs or foreboding omens in the air to elude to the fantastical series of events that were about to unfold. 

 

That morning Yuuri had awoken in a surprisingly chipper and optimistic mood, and all throughout his performance of the morning chores and appearance at breakfast it was easy to see how utterly at peace he was today. In fact, it was so obvious that even his mother had felt the need to comment on his unusual mood. 

 

“My my, what a lovely smile you have on your face today Yuuri, did you dream of something nice perhaps?” his mother asked with a bright and gentle smile of her own. While she loved her son dearly, she knew he was a shy and introverted sort of person, so she was pleasantly surprised by such an outward show of emotion from him. 

 

“I don’t really remember what I dreamt last night, but it left me feeling warm and content in my bed this morning so it must have been good,” Yuuri replied with a large goofy grin and a light blush. 

 

His mother laughed at his delightful face and replied, “Well then, you mustn't let this good mood of yours go to waste! Why not take the rest of the day off and do something you like?”

 

“Are you sure?” He asked uncertainly, looking up at her through his eyelashes from his spot at the table in the shy sort of way he often did when he wanted something but was being too polite to ask for it, “Because there’s still so much I haven’t done yet today and I’d feel really bad if I made you and dad and Mari pick up my slack an-”,

 

“Nonsense!” She interrupted with a large and jolly smile, “We don’t have many patrons here to take care of today anyways, and you’ve been working so hard lately; you deserve a day off! Besides, it’s a beautiful day outside today! Why don’t you go for a walk or practice some of your magic?” She punctuated her question with a decisive nod and a gentle nudge towards the door. It was fairly easy to see that she had already made up her mind. 

 

“Weeeelll….” Yuuri started with an unsure lilt to his voice, only to be suddenly startled by the sharp and intense look his mother gave him. “Alright, if you insist!” he quickly conceded, and with a satisfied grin found his mother quickly ushering him out the door.

 

For a large portion of the day all he did was wander. It was simply too beautiful a morning to waste on any sort of planned activity or heavy thought. It wasn’t until the afternoon rolled around that Yuuri found himself on the outskirts of his village and being suddenly struck with a stroke of inspiration. If he continued to travel this path he would eventually find himself wandering into the Forest of Shadows.

 

The forest itself was massive, taking up an entire half of the mountain on which his village was located. It was named the Forest of Shadows because it was well known that only creatures of darkness dwelled there. The trees and foliage were so thick that not only was it hard to walk in, but no light could penetrate the thick canopy, making it so the forest floor was suspended in an eternal state of midnight darkness. Besides that, the place was practically brimming over with pitch black magic, in some areas so strong that it could drive a man to insanity in mere seconds. 

 

By general rule of thumb, most people avoided the forest as if it were a plague, but Yuuri, despite his shyness towards people, had never been one to recoil when magic was involved, largely due to his intense desire to learn all he could on the subject. The only book of magic he owned, a guide to healing spells and remedies from which he had practiced from and memorized to the point of redundancy, had stated that despite the inconvenience of it, most plants and herbs that are vital to making the most powerful of healing elixirs could only be found within places filled with dark magic. The book had stated that the reason that these plants could create such strong remedies was because of their own ability to survive in such poisonous conditions.

 

While Yuuri didn’t much fancy diving headfirst into the great dark unknown of the Forest of Shadows, he had always wanted to try making those more difficult potions, and seeing as he rarely ever had a day off, he was more than willing to leave behind the peaceful and warm fuzzy afternoon daylight for the dark and murky forest realm in search of those rare healing plants. 

 

Mind made up and heart quaking with nerves, of apprehension or excitement he had no way of telling, Yuuri strode forward with purpose, hoping to be in and out of the overwhelmingly creepy forest before nightfall when the real monsters came out to play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd just like to thank everyone who commented on the prologue for this chapter, everyone's feedback was very positive and supportive! Any comments or criticisms are welcome and will be taken in stride, and I'm very grateful to everyone who reads and enjoys this story, so once again thank you!


	3. The Light Shining In The Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But really, he felt all of those old wives tales about this forest being unimaginably dangerous were more than a bit exaggerated, if not mostly fabricated out of fear and ignorance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took a bit longer to post; Sorry! I've been swamped with work recently. To make up for it I've made this chapter loner than the others, so I hope it doesn't disappoint. I'm really hoping to achieve a real slow build in this story. Also, thank you to everyone who waited patiently for this and for those who continue to support this story.

Anyone with any sort of common sense would most likely have enough instincts of self-preservation to avoid the Forest of Shadows at all cost, but Yuuri could sometimes be known for his thick headedness, current situation serving as example. But really, he felt all of those old wives tales about this forest being unimaginably dangerous were more than a bit exaggerated, if not mostly fabricated out of fear and ignorance.

 

It was well known to all that creatures of darkness deeply detested anything to do with light, so Yuuri, being in possession of light magic himself, felt relatively sure that as long as he projected his magic essence far enough outwards of himself that the creatures here would leave him alone. At least, that was his theory. 

 

Heart in his throat he continued to plunge deeper into the bowels of the dense forest, mentally going over all of the possible herbs and plants he could come across, as well as their most likely locations. He decided as he went to leave a small magic signature on the trees as he passed; a glowing white beacon to lead him home in case he were to get lost. He spotted all sorts of neat things along the way, and had enough sense to use what little he knew of summoning magic to conjure up a fresh roll of parchment and the enchanted pen he had received for his recently passed birthday, to make a rough map of the area and jot down information for the next time he came here. And he was already certain that he would come again, for he found the forest to be fascinating, and Yuuri had always been weak when it came to opportunities to learn more about magic. 

 

He wandered for hours, collecting samples and taking notes, all the while remaining undisturbed by the creatures of the forest. He supposed his theory about the light had been correct, and was mentally congratulating himself when he came upon a metaphorical motherload. 

 

He had just stumbled into a circular clearing about fifty metres in diameter, and from one end the the other the entire clearing was filled with unbloomed moon flowers. Moon flowers, as any self respecting healer with even a lick of basic knowledge can tell you, are incredibly rare, and are said to the the miracle cure to any injury or illness. Each part of the flower, from the roots all the way to the delicate petals, were jam packed with incredible healing magic, the likes of which most people can never hope to see in their lifetime. But finding even one of these beautiful flowers was near impossible, due to the conditions under which the growth of this plant is required. The seeds and subsequent plants from which these flowers burst must be shrouded in complete darkness for over a hundred years as they grow, and then they must directly after become exposed to a direct and pure light in order for the flower to bloom and the magic within to be fully realised. 

 

Looking at these flowers here, Yuuri could see that despite not having yet bloomed, they were already beginning to droop and wither. He concluded that the darkness of the forest must have allowed the plants to grow and prosper, but without the final light source they were starting to die. Yuuri desperately didn’t want that; not after coming across such an incredible find, so he began to slowly loosen his control over the light he had been projecting around himself as he explored, and allowed it to expand outwards from himself, growing stronger and brighter as it did. As he had hoped for, all the flowers turned towards his light and began to immediately stand taller, and slowly but surely the miraculous moon flowers began to bloom. 

 

Yuuri was overjoyed, and wasted no time in collecting samples upon samples, all the while thinking about how many people the medicine created by these flowers could help. He dug up a few flowers to bring home with him; after being exposed to light, as soon as they are shrouded in darkness again the die. So he decided to bring a precious few home with him and build them a permanent growing place made out of light. After all, creation magic was of the very few things besides healing magic that he felt he was actually good at. 

 

Finally, he felt his work was done and stood from his kneeling position. Looking to the roof of the forest, he had no way of telling what time it was, but by the ache in his feet and joints and the almost unbearable gurgling of his stomach that he had mostly been able to ignore, he concluded that it was getting rather late, and that he better begin his trek back out of the forest. 

 

Yet just as he was turning to leave he head an odd sound. A bit startled, he turned back to where he thought he had heard it. All day, the forest had been almost eerily quiet, nearly absolute silence, yet this sound had been loud and clear, like something that was close by. He stood there for a few seconds, then a few more, then nearly a minute before he turned away again, deciding it was only his imagination. But just as he began to turn once more the sound came again, and this time Yuuri was sure it was nearby. It sounded like the desperate call of a wounded animal. 

 

Cautiously, Yuuri began to slowly walk in the direction of the sound. While he was slightly scared at what sort of creature he might find, Yuuri was a healer at heart, and it went against nearly everything he believed in to leave any person or being he thought to be injured to fend for themselves. 

 

As he walked he heard more noises, shuffling and screeching, as if there were some sort of struggle going on. Finally, as he rounded a tree trunk he was able to see what was causing such a commotion, and nearly gasped out loud at what he saw. A pure white unicorn, scratched and wounded, was desperately trying to fend off an attacking fire lion, who was viciously circling and swatting at the poor creature. 

 

Unicorns were well known for being so elusive that they were practically myth. The purest creatures in existence, they were said to be a truly majestic sight to behold, and even bloodied and injured Yuuri could tell this to be true. He felt himself begin to quake with the thralls of a beginning righteous anger. The unicorn is the purest and most innocent creature to ever live in this realm, and it was more than just a sin to even think about harming one, let alone actually doing it. Of course fire lions, being beasts and all, didn’t really do much thinking beyond what their next meal would be so it didn’t surprise him that they held no respect for other creatures. 

 

But still, after seeing what was going on, he couldn’t just leave the poor unicorn for dead. Before he started to panic, he mentally checked his mind for any and all knowledge he had of fire lions and for to defend against them. 

 

They were made almost entirely out of shadows and black fire, so most physical forms of attack, magic or not, tended to have little or no effect on them. All he really knew though was that being a creature of the night they hated direct light, and being partially made of fire meant that they also had a weakness in water. Which didn’t help him much because it wasn’t exactly as if there were any rivers made of light around here. 

 

Just as he was beginning to lose hope and the fire lion was arching to pounce, he was suddenly struck with an idea. An incredibly stupid, dangerous idea, but it was better than nothing. Just behind the treeline where the unicorn cowered he could hear the bubbling of running water. 

 

Yuuri was a humble person so he had so difficulty admitting that his elemental magic was completely horrendous, but he could remember a time when he’d managed to pull all the water from the well on his family's property directly up out of the ground when he had been concentrating and trying very hard. 

 

Before he could lose courage or even really think about what he was doing, he jumped out from behind the tree that was sheltering him and planted himself directly between the unicorn and the fire lion with a loud holler of “STOP!”. Oddly enough, this did make the lion stop, if only for a moment, which was more than enough. Concentrating every fibre of his being, Yuuri willed the water from the river to rise up behind him and move to hover just above his head. Then, he let his own magic shoot out of himself and into the water, infusing it with so much energy that it became a glowing stream of liquid light. Finally, with the last of his strength he had over the water, he hurled it at the fire lion, which was so stunned that it hadn't been able to jump out the way in time and received a direct hit. 

 

It writhed and wiggled in discomfort, and roared and scratched and rolled, trying to shake off the glowing substance, but the damage was already done. Turning in defeat, the fire lion ran off, still roaring and stumbling, humiliated at the loss. 

 

Finally able to breathe and coming down from his high, Yuuri nearly collapsed, but one look back at the unicorn told him that his job wasn’t done here. After all he had come to heal an injured animal and by god, he was going to do it even if it completely exhausted his magic reserve. Yet again, maybe it didn’t have to.

 

“Hello,” he told the unicorn softly, who had stopped moving and was simply staring at him, “My name is Yuuri, and if you’d like I have something that might be able to heal your wounds”. Out of the air he summoned one of the samples he had taken from the moon flowers and slowly began to inch forward. The unicorn let him get closer and closer until he was right before it, and uncorking the vial he brought it up to one of the more ghastly looking injuries upon the unicorns soft flesh and let a single drop fall onto it. And just like that, the wound began to glow a soothing silver and close, spreading across each and every gash and bite and scrape until the unicorn looked just as pure and unharmed as it must have the day it was born. “There,” Yuuri said in a gentle and happy coo, “All better”. 

 

When he looked up, the unicorn was staring very intently at him, and he began to feel a bit nervous. He had no idea what to do now, if he should back away or wait for the unicorn to leave first. And then, something stranger than all of the other occurrences of the day began to happen. 

 

The eyes of the unicorn began to glow, a pure white light so strong that even while he was paralyzed in place Yuuri felt like he needed to turn away, the light blinding him. Yet underneath the intense beam he could see coming from the mouth and nose of the unicorn a silvery smoke-like substance, curling and swirling towards him. Before he could even process what was going on, the mist was suddenly filling him up, entering his nose and open mouth, he could even feel whisps of it snaking into his ears and worming into the corners of his eyes. It felt warm and reassuring, like a hug from his mother or a hot bowl of his favourite katsudon. After that thought he must have blacked out, for when he opened his eyes again, the unicorn was gone, although the warm feeling in his soul had remained. 

 

Feeling lightheaded and giddy with this new found experience, he hadden’t even noticed the other presence nearby. In fact, it wasn’t until he heard a low whistle and a drawn out “~Wooooww~” that he realised that he was in fact very much not alone here in the heart of the Forest of Shadows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I'm horrible ending it there. What can I say? I'm a person who loves some good suspense. I decided that I didn't want to write Yuuri as being completely weak and helpless right from the beginning. I feel he is a person with a lot of different strengths and amazing abilities but he doesn't give himself enough credit, which is why I wanted to write a little bit of badass Yuuri :)


	4. The Stranger He Met

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While it could be said that it was true; not many people would throw themselves in front of an attacking fire lion with little to no plan on how to defeat it, he was sure that there were many mages out there who could have done it if they had half a mind to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible before I become so burried in work that it never gets completed :( I'm not entirely happy with it, but I think it covers most of what I wanted it to, so I'm satisfied for now.

It disturbed Yuuri to no end that even after hearing the voice, he still could not see or even feel the presence of whomever it was that had spoken. He turned every which way, trying in vain to spot the owner of the voice that had startled him so. And yet there was nothing. Sighing to himself, he began to turn away once more when a quick movement flashed in the corner of his eye. 

 

Turning back he was just in time to watch a cloaked figure dropping from the branched of a large tree to land a few metres from where he was standing. He couldn’t make out much of the person in the cloak, for they were covered head to toe, but from this distance he could tell that this person was at least a good couple inches taller than he was, and from what he remembered of their voice he assumed that they were a male. For a long moment, neither moved nor said a word, only silently stared at one another, seemly to take in and appraise the figure standing opposite them. And then the hooded figure spoke.

 

“That was really something else, you know,” it began, and Yuuri was a little taken aback by how smooth and rich the voice was, “Not many people would do what you just did back there; not many could, mind you, even if they wanted to.”

 

“What do you mean?” Yuuri questioned. While it could be said that it was true; not many people would throw themselves in front of an attacking fire lion with little to no plan on how to defeat it, he was sure that there were many mages out there who could have done it if they had half a mind to. ‘And probably done a far better job of it too,’ he thought sadly to himself, more than a little embarrassed that this stranger, whoever they were, had seen his desperate flailing attempt to rescue an injured creature. 

 

Yuuri was so lost in his own head that he had nearly forgotten that he had asked a question, until the stranger opened his mouth to answer it. “I mean,” he began in a more deliberate tone than before, “that it takes a very powerful witch or wizard to be able to control an element outside of the one you were born with a natural affinity for, and then to infuse it with your own natural power and morph it into a weapon. It was truly an incredible display of power.” He punctuated his statement with a definitive nod, as if it left no room for argument. That didn’t mean that Yuuri wouldn’t try though. 

 

“N-n-nnoo-o sir, you’ve got it all wrong! I can’t control the water, not really, it was just that I was really desperate to save the unicorn and-and-an-” 

 

“Poppycock!” the stranger interrupted, “That was a brilliant plan! Using two of a fire lions only weaknesses against it at once! No one could have done better!” His cloak wiggled and jumped around, and Yuuri could only assume that he must have been waving his arms around in his excitement. “But you know…” The stranger picked up again, voice suddenly subdued and pensive, “I find you to be pretty interesting. What’s your name cutie?” 

 

Yuuri was going to stutter something out about how telling odd strangers he met in the woods his name went against nearly everything he was ever taught about safety as a kid, but he had found himself suddenly cornered against the trunk of a tree by the elusive stranger, and while he still could not see most of his face he could clearly make out underneath his hood a pair of brilliant and captivating cerulean eyes. Despite his better judgement, he fumbled out his name for the stranger before he could stop himself, too enraptured by those enchanting eyes to restrain himself. 

 

“Well then Yuuri,” the stranger spoke again, and Yuuri felt jolts running up and down his spine at hearing his name enunciated by that sinfully silky smooth voice, “You worked hard today, no? Why don’t you take a nice, long rest?”

 

Before Yuuri could even fully register what was being said to him he felt his eyes droop and body sag. As he completely lost consciousness he had the good sense to feel fear as he realised that he had been put under a spell. The last thing he saw before dreams overtook him were those shining eyes and a pearly white grin to match them.

 

When Yuuri woke again, it was highly disorienting. Looking around, he found himself to be lying in his bed back in his home, with a gentle morning light filtering in through his window. He was very confused. How had he gotten back home, and where was that stranger? He was starting to wonder if it had all been nothing more than a dream. 

 

Stretching out his stiff muscles, he slowly ambled out out bed and down the hallway towards the dinning room for some breakfast. He arrived barely awake and focused on nothing more than getting some food in his stomach, so he didn’t notice at first how everyone in the room had gone silent and was staring at him from the moment he entered. 

 

“Oh Yuuri!” his mother exclaimed when she came in and saw him, “How nice it is to see you’re finally up! We had thought you may still be sleeping by the week's end!” 

 

“How preposterous,” he mumbled tiredly into the bowl in front of him, “Who could sleep for an entire week without eating?” He ended his sentence with a long slurp from his bowl and a content sigh. His mother giggled at him and kindly patted his head.

 

“Well, you’ve been in bed for an entire day already, you know,” she said with an exasperated little grin. 

 

“Eehhh?” Yuuri responded, not entirely hearing what she said as he laid his head down on the table and debated taking a nap. 

 

“It's true! If it weren’t for that kind stranger bringing you back here who knows what could have happened to you! Wandering into the Forest of Shadows, what were you thinking?” She lightly scolded him with a light smack to the back of his head. For a moment it looked as if he really had fallen asleep and hadn’t heard her, but then he suddenly bolted up and looked her in the eye, more awake and alert than he had been the entire morning. 

 

“Forest? Stranger? Is he still here? Where?” He asked, eager and a bit frightened for the answer.

 

“He’s been here since yesterday when he brought you home dear, and I believe he’s in the hot springs right now. You really should thank him when…” she trailed off when she realised that her son had already left the room, making a mad dash for the hot springs. With a confused and mostly bemused smile on her face, his mother turned away and gently shook her head before moving to attend to the patrons. 

 

Yuuri himself was stumbling up the halls, flinging himself through doorways until he came to the entrance to the hot springs. Without stopping he barreled straight through the doors and into the outdoor water oasis, occupied by only one person at this time of day. 

 

His hair was the same shimmering silver as the moonbeams reflecting off of a frozen lake, and his skin was a pale flawless expanse of ivory covering his body like freshly fallen snow. Framed perfectly by his handsome face were those haunting eyes that he remembered so well, briefly startled before becoming unreadable. 

 

For a long moment both stared at each other without moving or uttering a word. Then Yuuri, realising that he had just rudely barged in, began to stutter out his questions. “Yo-you.. Why-why are you h-here?” He managed to force out of his mouth, nearly biting his own tongue in his rush to fling the words out into the air between them. 

 

The handsome stranger smirked at him then began to raise his toned body out from within the steaming water, droplets cascading from him like small diamonds falling from his chiseled body. Extending a hand, he spoke. 

 

“Yuuri,” he called out from where he stood, “From this day forward I have decided to become your teacher. I’m going to make you a star!” 

 

“... Eeehhhh?!” was all that managed to escape his mouth before Yuuri, in a highly dramatic fashion, fainted right then and there. It wasn’t until nearly an hour later when he woke up that he would discover the name of the man that had just made him his apprentice. 

 

‘That name seems very familiar to me’ he had thought. ‘Victor…’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seems like I can't keep any sort of consistent chapter length. Oh well :). Anyways, finally! They meet! While it might seem like things are going a bit fast (or slow, depending on your perspective) I'm planning to start explaining some things in the next chapter, so if you're confused you'll have to wait till then ;P


	5. This Magic That Binds Them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor grabbed his hands and pulled him into a partially standing position. “Don’t worry little piggy,” he said in an outrageously confident voice, “When I’m through with you, you’ll shine brighter than the most brilliant star”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, an update! I know it's been a while, but it's been a busy week for me :( At least I managed to get this one out just in time for Yuuri's birthday!! I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter, but there was a lot I wanted to explain here, so I hope I did a good job and cleared some things up for you! :)

It goes without saying that things had not gone the way Yuuri had imagined them to go that fateful day in the woods. He expected to leave the forest with little more than some nice rare herbs to practice with and a newfound respect for dark and creepy forests, not to leave its leafy perimeter with an ultra rare healing flower, a gift from a unicorn, and a strange yet handsome man under which he was to become an apprentice. A strange handsome man that it took Yuuri nearly three days to realise was actually THE Victor, a man he had admired and aspired to be like ever since he was young. 

 

Victor was a living legend in the magic community, or so Yuuri had heard. His village being as isolated as it was, he rarely, if ever, heard news of what happened on the outside. Yet one thing every visitor passing through the village had to talk about was Victor, the insanely powerful and attractive mage who had the whole world’s eyes and ears upon him. He had been regaled with delightful stories of his plights, and had instantly become little less than obsessed with him, to say the least. 

 

He would always try to mimic the magic he had heard that Victor was capable of, moving things with his mind, creating something out of nothing, he even once tried to make himself invisible (a terrifying experience for him when he succeeded to make himself invisible, but could not figure out how to reverse it). Of course there had been more intense stories, of Victor blowing things up with only his mind, of him levitating entire stadiums with merely a flick of his wrist. These were things Yuuri had never dared to try, for he did not believe himself capable and didn’t want to face the disappointment he was bound to feel when he failed. 

 

After he had put two and two together, Yuuri found himself more intimidated than ever (if they thought he was awkward and shy around him before, it was nothing compared to his reaction when Victor had confirmed his best/worst fears). When Victor had first told him that he intended to become his teacher, before Yuuri had realised his true identity, he had many doubts, first of which being if Victor was even capable of teaching him anything. Even in a relaxed and calm environment where he didn’t have any sort of adrenaline blocking his ability to feel the magic around him, he had sensed absolutely nothing coming from Victor. He wondered if he could do magic at all? It wasn’t until he had seen him summon a book to his side with all the care and ease in the world that Yuuri came to a startling realisation. 

 

He couldn’t feel any magic coming from Victor not because he possessed none, but because what magic he had was so strong that it made everything go static, completely out of his realm of detection. After that Yuuri held a lot more respect (and fear) for the man, although it didn’t stop his curiosity. 

 

Just what sort of person was he? After a few days of being in his nearly constant presence he procured an answer; An incredibly childish one. He often asked things of the people around him that Yuuri found were a bit rude for how little he knew them, and he had a terrible habit of entering his personal space, something that frazzled Yuuri every time it happened. And it happened a lot.

 

Despite his childlike and carefree personality, it turned out that Victor was a strict teacher, blunt to the point of being outright rude. After he had declared Yuuri his ‘cute little piggy’ he insisted that he would not be teaching him anything about magic until he was at a reasonable weight and ready to train properly. 

 

This was something that had hurt Yuuri a bit, though he’d never say so. His weight had always been a bit of a sore topic for him; he knew he wasn’t the most fit guy out there, and he had always struggled to keep it in check, but having someone point out your flaws was never really a pleasant experience. 

 

Disregarding his misgivings, Yuuri worked hard to follow Victor’s orders, starting an intense but effective workout regime and a nearly heartbreaking diet (unfortunately cutting his precious katsudon out of his daily intake). While he did this, Victor made himself right at home in Yuuri’s house and town. When word had spread that someone had come to properly train Yuuri in magic, the town had rejoiced, all but throwing a real and extravagant welcome party for the man. 

 

It took him nearly a month of gruelling hard work, but finally Yuuri had achieved his goal and was ready to start real training (under his idol; a fact he was still trying to wrap his head around). Because of all the physical work he had been doing, he was expecting his lessons to be more hands on, but Victor had surprised him when he had told him that first they were going to start with theory.

 

“After all, you must walk before you can run,” he had said with a knowing smirk and a wink. Before this would have been enough to make Yuuri blush from head to toe, but after a month of living with the airhead and having to face his intense lack of respect for personal space, he was prepared to endure whatever sort of vague flirting the man considered as normal interaction. 

 

“All right then,” Yuuri said, determined to absorb as much information as this man was willing to give, “What will we be learning today then?”

 

“Good Question!” Victor shouted, seemingly very pleased. It was a good few long seconds before he spoke again, “ …. I don’t know”.

 

“EEEHHH!!” Yuuri shouted at him, completely exasperated. He made him suffer through a month of backbreaking training and he didn’t even have any sort of lessons planned? Just what kind of teacher was he?

 

“Now now, don’t get all bent out of shape,” Victor said with his hands raised, clearly trying to sooth the irritated Yuuri, “I just meant that I don’t know where to start. From what I’ve heard you’ve only ever been self taught, with little to no resources to work with. I’ve seen some of what you can do when we were in the forest, but other than that I have no idea how much you know and how much needs to be taught.” He finished his sentence with furrowed brows, as if he were already thinking about all the things he would potentially need to teach him.

 

“Oh, that’s all?” Yuuri asked, deflating out of the stiff posture he had adopted not moments before. “Why didn’t you just ask? It would be a lot easier if I just told you everything I know and can do,” he said, sitting himself down in the soft grass of the field they were currently standing in, making himself comfortable.

 

“Brilliant!” Victor said with a bright smile, quickly situating himself on the ground across from Yuuri and looking eager to hear all about his magical plights.

 

Taking a deep breath, Yuuri started to talk. He explained all about his magical type, and his focus on the subtypes connected with it. He told of his healing abilities, of the way he could now mend broken objects with only his mind and of his relatively passable levitation magic. He spoke of all the things he had religiously studied from his one book of magic, and of everything else he had been forced to teach himself via trial and error. When he was done he was nearly panting, finding himself oddly excited at having someone hear to talk to about magic whose eyes wouldn’t become glazed over after a few minutes. True enough, by the time he was finally finished revealing everything he knew about magic, Victor was still listening intently, the most focused Yuuri had ever seen him.

 

“Incredible,” Victor had faintly breathed out, staring at Yuuri with an odd sort of gleam in his eyes. Blushing to his roots and jittery with embarrassment, Yuuri opened his mouth fully prepared to deny the softly spoken praise when Victor spoke again, cutting him off. “Yuuri that’s amazing! I never would have thought you’d be able to teach yourself all that! It’s good, very good!” As he spoke he waved his arms around and wiggled his hips, as if his words were simply not enough to express his message.

 

Yuuri himself was speechless with awe and embarrassment. He never was one to take a compliment with grace, and seeing as Victor rarely complimented him on anything other than his taste in food and his ‘cute innocent face’ he was completely bamboozled on how to respond. As it turned out, he didn’t have too, because almost immediately Victor began to speak once more, this time his tone more serious. 

 

“What you’ve done on your own is amazing,” Victor started, the lilt of his voice hinting at contemplation, “However, I feel there is still much more that needs to be done. You have so much potential that’s going to waste here. First I think we need to go back to the very basics. You know a lot about controlling the general subdivisions of light magic, but from what you’ve told me you know little to nothing about controlling the main source of your power. Before anything else we must work on that, and then I think we should move on to offensive and defensive types of magic that are compatible with light. Not to mention exploring your abilities in elemental magics as well as your gift from the unicorn. And you’ll need to learn more about the history of magic and proper techniques for best utilizing it and how to strengthen your own and…”

 

Slightly overwhelmed by Victors low musings, Yuuri did his best to absorb everything he was hearing and make sense of it all. Certain aspects of what Victor was saying were certainly appealing, after all anything that had to do with learning more about magic never ceased to enthrall him, but there was something that victor had said that suddenly resonated with Yuuri every bit that it confused him.

 

“Um …. Victor?” Yuuri called out, unsure if he was being rude by interrupting him. When he had Victor’s full attention he continued, “What did you mean by the unicorn’s gift?” He tentatively asked, flushing a little for not knowing the answer himself. 

 

“Ah! That’s right, of course you wouldn’t know!” Victor exclaimed, before leveling with Yuuri to deliver his explanation, “When you were in the forest with the unicorn it filled you with light, correct? I was watching from the tree, it really was a magnificent sight! Anyways, when any sort of extremely magically charged creature, like a unicorn, finds a person they deem worthy, they bestow upon them a gift. No one can tell for sure what exactly the gift will be since it is unique to the person, but receiving a gift from a creature like a unicorn is unheard of!” Victor finished off his explanation with a flourish of his arms and a huge smile, clearly thrilled at the prospect of discovering what sort of special gift Yuuri possessed. 

 

It was a lot of information for Yuuri to take in, and the rest of the day passed in a blur for him. Evening found him soaking in the onsen, barely aware of his own surroundings. He was very trapped within his own head, thinking on how everything was changing. Victor had told him that after hearing about Yuuri’s previous magical experience he had decided to make his lessons a combination of practical and theoretical. Besides that, Yuuri was still confused about the whole gift dilemma. Why would the unicorn decide he was worthy of such a thing? He certainly hadn’t felt it at the time, more relieved that he had barely been able to fend off the fire lion. And what was this gift? He tried to become more aware of his own magic,searching for anything that felt different, yet there was nothing. 

 

He had already half convinced himself that Victor had been mistaken when the man himself entered the onsen, breaking Yuuri out of the trance like state he was in. 

 

“~Yuuri~,” Victor purred, situating himself right next to said man and draping an arm across his shoulders (it was at this point that Yuuri was forced to admit that he was not nearly as used to Victor's touchy/feely-ness as he had previously claimed, for there was no hiding the bright red blush on his face). “You’ve been out of it all day! Why don’t you tell me what’s wrong? I’m your teacher aren’t I? You shouldn’t hide things from me!” He was clearly laying it on hard, obviously trying to guilt Yuuri into speaking his mind. Yuuri was too embarrassed to admit that he had been doubting the older man, so instead voiced a different concern that had been nagging him for a while now.

 

“Victor…. Why did you decide to become my teacher?” He finally asked, speaking the question that had been on his mind ever since he had first declared his intentions. “What were you even doing in the forest that day?” he added on as an afterthought, only just now finding it strange that someone else would stray so far into the forest and find him there.

 

Victor pursed his lips in thought, and for a long while it looked as if he wasn’t going to respond. But he finally sighed and slouched down a bit, retracting his arm from around Yuuri’s shoulder and giving his reply. “I came to the forest to find you,” he started quietly, staring intensely into Yuuri’s eyes. “Not long before we first met I had a prophetic dream in which I met someone who was destined for greatness, someone I was bound to meet and mold into something amazing. After that I packed up and began searching, trusting my instincts to bring me to them. I was drawn to the forest, and when I stumbled across you I finally found out why.” By this point he was no longer speaking softly, but rather rushed and passionately, as if desperate to speak the words aloud. “You’re the one who I was meant to find, I’m sure of it. Everyday I see your progress and your abilities I become more convinced. We are bound together by powerful magic, and by it I swear that I am going to make you the greatest sorcerer of all time!” He concluded his declaration by suddenly standing straight up. Yuuri watched from his seated position, mouth gaping in disbelief. 

 

Victor grabbed his hands and pulled him into a partially standing position. “Don’t worry little piggy,” he said in an outrageously confident voice, “When I’m through with you, you’ll shine brighter than the most brilliant star”.

 

Flabbergasted beyond the point of intelligent thought, the only thing able to tumble from his mouth was a disbelieving “HHHUUUUHHH????”,as the sound echoed off into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The beginnings of Victuuri! Already I'm excited to write more. I hope no one was offended by the way I wrote Victor, but he really is sort of childish. He had a lot of long monologues this chapter that I didn't really like, but as the teacher I had to give him the role of explaining most things >W

**Author's Note:**

> This is the prologue for my newest story. Seeing as it's the first one I've posted here, I'd like to reiterate my acceptance of any sort of feedback, including if a should or should not continue to update or simply write a follow up to close off the story.


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